Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR 550) - Rasmus Dahlin was the first overall pick in the 2018 NHL Draft and has played 586 NHL games. He's getting his first taste on Stanley Cup Playoff action Sunday when Game 1 of the series against the Boston Bruins gets under way. Dahlin is an emotional player on the ice, but he said as far as nerves and being emotional, he thinks he's going to be OK,
"I'll try to stay away from it. It's hard to think about all the years, today especially, but we're in the moment and I'll probably reflect on it more when the season is over, but all I'm thinking about now is having the best game of my career.
We all know Marco Strum is trying to intimidate the Sabres by saying the Bruins are bigger and stronger and they're coming after them. The captain isn't at all worried about it,
"Whatever, it's the result that matters, they can say whatever, we just have to go out and play our game and play hard.
"We can play a physical game, we can play a fast game, we play a lot of different ways, so we're ready, but all we have to do is go out and play our game, what we can do best and have fun, enjoy the moment."
Dahlin is the superstar player on the Sabres side, but Boston has one too in David Pastrnak. He finished with 100 points in 77 games and in four games against the Sabres this season he had three goals and three assists for six points. Dahlin will be on the ice against him a lot and he knows what he has to do,
"We've just got to stay on top of him, take away time and space, he's a very skilled, smart hockey player, so if the puck isn't on his stick, we're doing a good job."
Lindy Ruff knows they'll have their hands full,
"You have to be aware when he's on the ice, he's really good at calculated risk where you go out to the point and he sense a puck that that's going down low that if he sense that their defenseman has a chance to pick that off, he's going to keep on going past you and I will say once a game he's going to get a partial breakaway because he's made the right decision and their D has picked off that pass and they know he's gone and when a player of that caliber creates that kind of opportunity, he's going to finish it."
In 45 games against Buffalo, Pastrnak has 19 goals and 32 assists for 51 points. In the last four seasons Pastrnak leads the NHL with 180 goals. Tage Thompson is sixth with 160.
Luke Schenn, Tanner Pearson and Bo Byram has won the Stanley Cup. Dahlin loves to talk hockey and he has certainly picked their brain as to the process of winning a Cup,
"I'm trying to talk to everybody as much as I can, you can learn something from everybody, so I like asking questions and you learn a lot from guys that have a lot of experience."
Bruins coach Marco Sturm knows Dahlin is at the top of his game. He said,
"He's going to be a handful, and for me I always compare a guy like him to with Makar, those are special players and the thing is if you let him, he's going to destroy us, so we can not allow that to happen, and the best thing to me is finishing our checks and make sure when he's on the ice we're aware because he's that good."
As far as what the game plan is for his team Sturm said,
"I watched the last four when we played them and it was very clear to see when we are on top of our game we're strong and pucks and when we're physical, we have a chance, and if we decide to play their way, might as well stay at home because they're that good, they skate well, they're skilled enough, they have 108 points for a reason and it's a little bit up to us how we want to play."
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen will be playing his his first playoff game. This season Luukkonen is 22-9-3 with a 2.52 goals against .910 save percentage. Jeremy Swayman will be in the other crease with a 9-10 playoff record. This season he's 31-18-4 with a 2.71 goals against and .908 save percentage.
The is the ninth time these two teams have met in the playoffs. Boston is 6-2 in those series, but the Sabres have won two of the last three.
Join Brian Koziol for pregame starting at 5:30 when you'll hear from Ruff, Sturm, Dahlin, Thompson, Bo Byram, Logan Stanley, and Noah Ostlund. You'll also hear a replay for earlier in the week from general manager Jarmo Kekalainen.
Dahlin is in his eighth season since being the first overall pick
Dahlin is in his eighth season since being the first overall pick
